More than 1,000 athletes across summer, winter and Paralympic sports were involved in a widespread state-sponsored doping system in Russia akin to an "institutional conspiracy", Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren has claimed when delivering the second part of his report here today.

Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) President Louise Martin urged politicians not to exploit Gold Coast 2018 for their own gains, as preparations for the multi-sport event were declared to be in “great shape” at the close of the Coordination Commission visit.

The International Association of Athletics Federatopm (IAAF) Diamond League will adopt a championship-style format next season with athletes having to take first place at one of the two seasonal finals in Zurich or Brussels – carrying increased total prize money of $3.2million (£2.5million/€3miilion) – to become overall winner in their event.

Home favourite Son Wan Ho reached the men’s singles semi-finals at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Korea Masters today as the top seeds in each of the five competitions remained on course for success at the Seogwipo Olympic Stadium.

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Fact of the day

Hulking Swedish actor Dolph Lundgren is best known to movie fans for his role in the film Rocky IV in 1985. For the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta he was selected by the United States Olympic Committee as the team leader of the American modern pentathlon team. Though he attended the Games and marched with the US delegation in the Opening Ceremony, his role was largely honorary. It was bestowed on Lundgren as a result of the time he spent training with the team in preparation for his role in the film Pentathlon, where he starred as an East German Olympic gold medalist on the run from an abusive coach played by David Soul. As a result of the time he spent with the team, Lundgren became a major supporter of the campaign to keep modern pentathlon on the Olympic programme.

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The Big Read

As the bidding race for the 2024 Olympic Games surges forward, Philip Barker looks back at previous Games held in Los Angeles and Paris as both cities hope to host the event for the third time and how their National Olympic Committees previously won the hosting rights